Emily Dickinson is probably the most well known poets in American history. During my American Lit class last semester, we had to pick an Emily Dickinson poem to analyze. Because I was lazy, and I felt challenged, I picked a very short poem: Aurora Is The Effort. I wanted to break it down for you today, because I personally feel that the ability to analyze different pieces of writing will help you build your writing skills. It will also help you understand difficult writing later one. Lord of the Rings, anyone?
Aurora is the effort
Of the Celestial Face
Unconsciousness of Perfectness
To simulate, to Us.
-Emily Dickinson.
The first time I read it, for sure I felt like the words were falling flat on me. But honestly, breaking it down word for word on the first line in the best place to go. So let’s start there. “Aurora is the effort”. Who is the effort? The definition of aurora is:
- :a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet’s magnetic polar regions and is caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the planet’s magnetic field lines (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Note also that Aurora is also the Roman goddess of dawn, and as we all know the dawn gives us an amazing light display. So let’s just assume that both work. Light, beauty, etc. is the effort! The effort of what? Time to move onto the next line.
“Of the Celestial Face”. What is the celestial face? Perhaps the sky? That seems pretty logical. Celestial means that it relates to the sky or to heaven, and both aurora definitions have to do to the heavens. Okay let’s piece this back together. Light, beauty, etc. is the effort of the sky or of the heavens. I know, this is getting a bit long. But bare with me, we only have two lines left!
The next line, “Unconsciousness of Perfection” seems a bit trickier. And this is probably where it’s most open for debate. In my mind, I see this line as “unknown perfection”. But if I bring the last line in, “To simulate, to Us”, to me the meaning changes. I would love to hear your thoughts on what this poem means to you, but it means to me, in modern words, that the heavens are trying to simulate perfection to us, people who aren’t perfect and don’t understand such things. But that’s just my take on it! Let me know about yours.
Thank you for sticking with me through my somewhat tedious breakdown of such a short poem. I get carried away sometimes.
-With love, Ms. Beka Mae
-www.memecenter.com
characters she wrote 